Ian wasn't used to driving in the mountains. Not that he'd ever admit that, but where he'd learned to drive it was flat and fairly level and while there were occasionally icy roads and snowy conditions, there certainly weren't hundred foot drops on either side of the road if you somehow lost control of the car and slid off the road. While he and Andrew had been discussing the lessons Thor had been giving the teenager and Shawn, the road had steadily risen into higher elevations, and the weather changed accordingly. It was now pretty cold outside, and there was snow piled on either side of the interstate. No problem there, since the last snowstorm had been a good week before and the roads had long since been plowed, but Ian wondered if he should have gone to Jack and mooched his truck for the drive – especially once they turned off the main highway onto the little road that led up to the Stephen's lodge.

This road was much smaller, and while it, too, had been plowed, it hadn't been plowed completely down to the bare pavement, and the snow that had been left had been packed down hard by what few passing cars and trucks there had been. The packed snow was slick, and the all season high performance tires that were on his sports car didn't find a lot of traction.

Ian didn't worry, though, really. There weren't any other cars or anything on the road, and he could stay right in the middle instead of staying to the right, and Andrew told him there wasn't a center line anyways – not that they could see anything.

"We could go back…" Andrew told him, feeling the tires slipping when Ian went around a bend in the road. They hadn't swerved or anything, and the action was subtle, but Andrew knew what slipping tires felt like.

"Nah, we're okay," Ian said, shrugging. He'd never admit to not being able to do something, and turning around was the same as giving up. Which wasn't going to happen.

"It's only a few more miles."

Ian nodded, and put the car into a lower gear as they started down a slight hill. Better that than ride the brakes, he knew.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Wow."

Andrew smiled proudly as the two of them pulled up to the empty parking lot in front of the lodge. It was an impressive building and he knew it, and even though he hadn't had anything to do with the building of it, he wasn't above being proud that his family owned it.

"Come on. I'll show you around."

They got out of the car, and Ian shivered. It was pretty freaking cold. Andrew did, too, rubbing his arms and then reaching into his pocket for a set of keys he'd grabbed from a hook back at the house before they'd left.

"Normally my grandmothers live here with my aunt and uncle, but they're all gone for the month to visit my other uncles who live in Florida."

"Micah's folks?" Ian asked as they headed for the large porch that wrapped around most of the building.

"Yeah. He's staying with us so he doesn't miss school."

"Makes sense."

Andrew shrugged, and unlocked the door, holding it open for Ian to precede him in.

"I wish I could miss school sometimes…" he admitted, closing the door behind him.

The lodge was echoingly empty, and pretty chilled inside, but there was electricity and heat, so Andrew simply went over and turned the thermostat up. It'd take a few hours to heat the place up, but when they were done with the tour they could always sit in front of the heater vents to stay warm.

"I know how you feel," Ian told him, looking around with interest. The place was just as awesome inside as it was out. "I was so bored in high school that I sometimes had to force myself to stay in my seat and not tell the teachers where to shove their standardized curriculum."

Andrew smiled.

"It's better at the Academy, though, right?"

"It's better," Ian said. "Because everyone there is supposed to be smart – otherwise they don't get in. So the classes are more challenging and advanced. And the instructors let you move on ahead of the class if you're ready to."

"Shawn says you're at the top of your class – even though you're not even in the classes right now."

It was more of a question.

Ian shrugged.

"They're still challenging, but I have an advantage that none of the others do," he said. "I have the smartest woman in the world acting as my tutor when I have a problem."

"Sam?"

Ian nodded, smiling.

"She's a fucking genius, you know…"

"Yeah."

He didn't know, Ian knew. But he would figure it out eventually.

Andrew sighed, opening a closet and pulling out a couple of jackets for them to use. The good thing about the lodge was that there were always extra coats and other cold weather gear around.

"I wish I would have gone into the academy when Shawn did," he admitted – for the first time telling someone besides himself.

"Why didn't you?" Ian asked, pulling on the jacket and reaching for a stocking cap as well. His ears were going to fall off any minute, he was sure.

Andrew shrugged. He wasn't going to admit to being afraid.

"I guess I didn't think I was ready…"

"Are you?"

"I don't know. But I hate where I am. It's boring and if it wasn't for the lessons with Thor, I'd probably just go nuts."

Ian nodded.

"You're going to go next year?"

"Yeah."

"What do your friends think about that?"

Andrew snorted.

"I don't have many friends. Shawn and a few guys that I go to camp with every year, but they go to different schools and I can't transfer because of district zoning. The kids I go to school with are more than willing to talk to me when they want an answer to a problem, but other than that…" he shrugged, trailing off. Ian probably didn't understand that. He'd probably had a ton of friends when he'd been in school.

"Come on," he said, before Ian could say anything. "I'll show you around. I'll even show you where Jaffer was born."

Ian nodded, and the two of them headed for the huge staircase that dominated the front hall. Boy, he sure had a lot more in common with Andrew than he'd ever have guessed.